When we disapprove of someone, what really is our reason for disapproval? Managers while sitting through recruitment interviews, make a decision about a candidate in a few seconds mostly. It is one thing that the candidates say which makes or breaks the interview. I have heard many a times Managers saying, “He/she will not fit into our culture”. What is it about that culture that bothers the Manager in those few seconds. Honestly, that culture sits in the mind of that Manager and most likely his mind tells him that this person will not fit in with the Manager.
Another statement that I hear very often is that this person looks too smart for our organization. Actually his mind is probably telling him that he will have difficulty handling this smart person. So rather hire someone who is dumber than you and so the Manager keeps hiring people who he can handle, are lesser than him (as per his perception).
Once hired, Managers feel it their moral duty to categorize people into good, bad, ugly. Managers hire people but very soon write them off. Some very silly ones that I hear often are, “He is a last minute person”, “He is an Introvert, bad fit for Sales and HR”. People who are “last minute persons” could be highly exploring, looking at alternatives and so they take more time than others. That person’s preference is Introversion, given a choice. It doesn’t mean he can not sell things or can’t interact with people. Preference of a person is not really a reflection of his capability on the job. On the contrary, Introverts could be better listeners because they talk less and so they could understand the needs of their customers better, thereby resulting in better sales. All these judgements about people come from our own inner beliefs about people, work, processes and we evaluate people based on standards set by us. It is probably important to understand why people do what they do and accept the fact that they are different from us and therefore they think and act differently. Different from us is not necessarily good or bad. It is just different
